The incredible shrinking economy

5.7% last quarter.

There appear to be some signs of recovery in the medium-term. But 5.7% in one quarter is stunning.

Painless way to save some energy costs?

Painting your roof white.

Won't work for a lot of people who can't paint their roof (!), and renters aren't helped. But I had half my roof replaced last year with much lighter colored shingles and it does seem a bit cooler on that side of the house where before the sun room there would get very, very warm in the summer.

Iococca to lose pension and car in Chrysler bankruptcy

Executive plan is unsecured, it seems.

It does kind of suck, even though he's doing fine. One of the few cases of company executives not being first in line, however.

Smacking down the anti-Sotomayor rhetoric

Nate Silver is on the case. The best thing that Democrats are doing is letting the Republicans have a go at it, however.

Given the way many of the base have gone at it, you'd have thought that Obama appointed an outright socialist. Certainly the far-right, who were girding for this fight long before the actual appointment (with their fill-in-the-blanks talking points), are acting like Obama appointed Krugman or something. Most people, so far, realize at least that Obama did not actually nominate a far left wacko. Could he have? Sure, but he didn't.

And God forbid a judge should have empathy! For all the wackiness about empathetic judges, it was Robert Bork, during his nomination hearings, that tried to save himself by acknowledging the necessity for empathy by a judge for the people in the process.

Ruth Padel quits, admits to spreading dirt on Derek Walcott

Another day in the life of British academia.

I get the feeling that this was a much bigger (and deadlier) deal in the distant past.

Those military men, and their mealy-mouthed opinions

David Petraeus: Far Left Wacko

Memorial Day

As a father, these images still affect me very deeply.

I know it is anecdotal and all. But war always kills innocents. It is worth remembering, even on this memorial day.

Overheard in New York

I always laugh out loud (literally) when I read this blog.

This one tickled my "father of a five year old little girl" funny bone.

Pelosi! Pelosi! Pelosi!

The woman the Right loves to hate, isn't she? Can't say I like her, but I do like how the Right gets themselves all twisted up trying to show how she's the anti-Christ.

On the "what she knew, when she knew it front" it doesn't appear that her story is straight, which has caused a tizzy among the GOP who sense blood in the water (not realizing, I think, that most of the blood in the water is theirs, and is self-inflicted). As a Democrat I would love to make this torture issue about Pelosi: It means the GOP concedes that torture is bad and is something that should have been confronted years ago.

And the more they go after Pelosi, the more effective the counterpunch will be: What did Bush know? When? And why didn't he do anything?

As it turns out, of all the people involved Pelosi is the only one asking for an independent Truth Commission. Seems hardly the thing a guilty person would call for. And in any case, the CIA records on this very issue isn't altogether trustworthy.

Remember those lost videotapes of torture sessions? Still trust the CIA over Pelosi? For some on the far Right, it is a tough call: Trust a torturing secret government group with a huge (growing) and unaccountable budget, over a San Francisco Democrat. Hmmmm.

Showing dinosaurs means you are un-American!

Or something like that. Hard to tell with the mumbling far Right these days.

Young American journalist forces British government expenses to be made public

Good for her.

If it is one thing credit card debtors are demanding, it is to be able to carry concealed weaponry

Compromise legislation at work.

Mayor Fred?

First step accomplished.

Join my Facebook page.

A little subliminal advertising?

The Olympic Toke

James Garfield beheaded!

Obviously the police are first questioning his political enemies, and others would would benefit from such a fiendish act.

Michael Steele: A Walking Democratic Ad

Michael Steele at the NRA: "Whenever they can, wherever they can, the Democrats want to take away the rights of law abiding citizens to own and purchase a gun - a right that is guaranteed under the United States Constitution. ..

This is so 2004, Michael "my man."

All the Dems have to do is act, well, human. A tough act at times, I know. But Steele set the bar so low for Democrats he might as well have left it on the floor.

Wayman Tisdale passes away of cancer

CBS Sportsline blurb

A very good college player who stuck around in the NBA a long time. But he made a new career for himself as a smooth jazz bassist. A good guy taken far, far too soon.

Misplaced apology

Oprah apologizes for James Frey incident--to James Frey (!!)

"I'm sorry I shamed you" to a guy who was a fraud. Jeez.

Pardon me, but your bias is showing...

Washington Times runs a photo of the Obama kids to accompany a story on murdered Chicago schoolkids

Update: "Wasn't us! It was our photo picking machine!"

Sad. The Washington Times, to get out of a charge of bias, admits it uses no editorial judgement at all in the use of accompanying images.

Irish student posts fake quote on Wikipedia

Not news, you say? How about the fact that hundreds of blogs and newspapers picked up the quote, most without attribution to Wikipedia, and published it as true?

Kudos to the Guardian, who not only corrected the mistake but owned up to it in the first place.

Crist tosses his hat in

Charlie Crist running for Senate

I hope he gets the nod. Given the sad state of the GOP, the only way I can see to save the party (and allow a range of conservative voices on the national stage) is to hope for the success of the moderate GOP member campaigns.

Nothing breed success like success, as the Democrats found out when a moderate Southern Governor (Clinton) ran, won, and dominated Democratic politics for 10 years.

And no, I'm not of the mind that Charlie Crist is hoping for the evangelical bad speller vote.

Does the GOP need a little affirmation?

Maybe they need a Therapy Buddy.

I can just see Glen Beck clicking on the "Hear My Voice" link over an over during the course of the day.

Israel and the NPT

I, for one, had no idea that Israel was not a signatory to the Nuclean Non-proliferation Treaty. Well, for two.

Apparently the fact that Israel is a country with nukes is a wink-wink kind of thing--for years! From the Andrew Sullivan reader:

There is a very simple reason why we have to pretend that Israel does not possess nuclear weapons- the Non Proliferation Treaty. Under the treaty and US law, a non-signatory to the treaty (such as Israel) who acquires nuclear weapons is prohibited from receiving any foreign aid or military aid (the last estimates I saw were that Israel receives about a quarter of the US's entire foreign aid budget, and half of our foreign military aid budget). So there you go.

Damn, who knew?

I predict Israel's signing the NPT will be a precondition for negotations very, very soon. After all, if they won't sign, what incentive would other nations in the Middle East have to sign?

Joe the Plumber now leaving the GOP

OK, you know things are tough for the GOP when Joe the Plumber leaves the party

Meanwhile, Rush excuses Colin Powell from GOP work.

FOX Crops

Like your news a little on the cropped side?





HT: MITH

"Give them the boob!"

Miss California pageant paid for contestant's boob job.

What's wrong with the GOP, part 5000

Anonymous Liberal with a nice piece.

[T]he problem is not the ideas, but the attitude. Republicans are coming across as a bunch of obnoxious, unreasonable a-holes

Hey kids, get off my lawn! Unless you're hot and brought wine coolers...

Craig Arnold, MIA

Poet Craig Arnold has gone missing in a sparsely-populated volcanic island in Japan.